Safety surface line marking is ubiquitously used to demarcate parking spaces and assist drivers in parking their vehicles in those parking spaces. However, safety surface line marking is less or not at all effective for this purpose for drivers who unable to see the lines while parking their vehicles. There are many reasons why some drivers experience this problem, including the size of the driver, the size and/or design of the vehicle, the limited mobility or other physical imparity of the driver, the position of the lines, fading of the lines from wear, poor lighting, and the inexperience of the driver who is unable to judge distance or gauge the locations of the lines without actually seeing them.
All vehicles have side mirrors which can assist their drivers when backing into parking spaces, but which would have to be repositioned downwardly for parking and then returned to their original positions for driving, and are therefore inconvenient to use and of little practical value for this purpose. Further, while some vehicles have cameras that can display relevant information to assist their drivers when backing into parking spaces, such technology is present only on relatively expensive vehicles, or may be malfunctioning, and is therefore not generally available or not always reliable when it is available.
As a result, it is not uncommon for drivers to fail to properly center their vehicles in parking spaces. This may be particularly problematic for larger sport utility vehicles and trucks that have smaller margins within standard parking spaces. Reports by the insurance industry indicate that this often results in damage to both the incorrectly parked vehicles, adjacent correctly parked vehicles, and adjacent structures. This issue has been neglected by designers, owners, and operators of both private and commercial parking lots and garages, who have failed to address relevant insurance and law enforcement statistical findings. Similar problems exist for operators of other vehicles.
This background discussion is intended to provide information related to the present invention which is not necessarily prior art.